Avatar: The Red Firebender - The Legend of Hunter - Book 1
by WeepingAngelX
Summary: AU. When Roku died, the reincarnation cycle was broken. But, another spirit absorbed the final remnant of the Avatar Spirit, and latched itself to a young firebender, creating a new line of Avatars, that was still connected to previous Avatars. Katara and Sokka were fishing in a canoe one morning, and found a large iceberg, glowing red, with 2 figures frozen within.
1. The Boy in the Iceberg

**Katara P.O.V.**

 _Air, Water, Earth, Fire. My grandmother used to tell me stories of the old days. A time of peace, when the Avatar kept balance between the Water tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all 4 elements. Only he could he could stop the ruthless firebenders. But, when the world needed him most, the cycle was broken. 100 years have passed, and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war. 2 years ago, my father and the men of my tribe journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to help fight against the Fire Nation, leaving me and my brother to look after our tribe. Most people believe that the spirits have given up on the human world, and that they will not allow the Avatar to be reborn. But I still have hope; I believe that the spirits have some compassion, and that they will bring the Avatar back. I still believe that, somehow, the Avatar will return to save the world._

My brother and I were sailing in our canoe, trying to find some fish to catch for dinner. While I was looking around every angle, Sokka was staring right in front of us.  
"You won't get away this time. Watch and learn Katara, this is how you catch a fish." He said arrogantly. I rolled my eyes, and spotted the fish behind us. I pulled my glove off, and concentrated on the water surrounding the fish. I pulled the water towards me, slowly but surely, with the fish in it. I took a deep breath, and pulled the water up in a bubble, with the fish.  
"Sokka! Look!" I exclaimed in excitement.  
"Shh! You're gonna scare it away." he hissed back. "But Sokka, I caught one." I protested, but he accidently popped the bubble with his spear, soaking him, and letting the fish go.

"Why is it that every time you play with magic water, I get soaked?" he demanded. I sighed.  
"It's not magic, it's waterbending." I corrected.  
"And it's-" he cut me off.  
"Yeah yeah, an ancient art, unique to our culture, blah blah blah." He said, waving off what I said.  
"Look, I'm just saying, if I had weird powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself." he said, grabbing his spear after he rang out his pony tail.  
"Excuse me? I'm weird? I'm not the one who makes muscles to myself every time I see my reflection in the water." I said with a smirk.

Before he could retort, we got caught in a current that was trailing between ice bergs. I kept yelling at him to go left, but he didn't listen. Our canoe got caught in between 2 icebergs, and then destroyed. We managed to jump off onto a flat patch of ice before we fell into the water.  
"You call that left?" I asked sarcastically.  
"You don't like my steering. Well, maybe you should have 'waterbended' us out of the ice." He retorted.  
"So it's my fault?" I asked angrily as I stood up.  
"I knew I should have left you home. Leave it to a girl to skrew thing up." he said to the air. That pissed me off like you wouldn't believe.  
"You are the most sexist, immature nut brain, I'm embarrassed to be related to you!" I yelled at him, waving my arms.

I continued yelling, not realising that I was bending at the same time.  
"From now on, you're on your own!" I finished, and the iceberg behind us cracked in half, sending a wave pushing our patch of ice back. After the commotion died down, Sokka was looking at me with a frustrated look.  
"OK. You've gone from weird, to freakish Katara." He said.  
"I did that?" I asked.  
"Yep, congratulations." He said sarcastically. I paid no mind to it, I was still mesmerised by what I could do.  
 _"If I can do that, how powerful am I exactly?"_ I thought to myself.

As I was deep in my thoughts, a bright red glow appeared in the water in front of us. Before either of us could say anything, a large iceberg, glowing red, emerged. I looked into it, and saw 2 figures. One was human, sitting in a meditative position, and the other was unlike anything I've ever seen. All of a sudden, the human opened his eyes, revealing them to be glowing full red.  
"He's alive!" I exclaimed.  
"We have to help him!" I grabbed my brother's club, and ran to the iceberg, ignoring my brother's protests. I smashed into the iceberg a few times. I gave an extra hard smash, and a sudden burst of wind pushed me back, as the ice cracked and a bright red beam of light shot up into the sky.

The boy climbed out of the iceberg, and stood up, and I got a good look at him. He was wearing black pants, a black leather cuirass with a white long-sleeved shirt underneath, black boots and a hooded cloak was wrapped around his neck. His shoulder length hair was black as the midnight sky, and his eyes still had that intimidating red glow. He looked to be about my age, maybe a little older.  
"Stop!" my brother yelled as he pointed the spear to the boy. The red glow in his eyes faded, revealing forest green, and he fell, passing out. I caught him before he hit the ground.

I blushed when I saw his face. He was a really handsome guy. He groaned and put his hand on his head.  
"What happened?" he asked the air as he opened his eyes.  
"I was hoping you could answer that." I said. He opened his eyes and sat up.  
"Ugh, I've got such a headache." He groaned as I stepped back. He jumped onto his feet.  
"What's going on here?" he asked us.  
"You tell us! How did you get in the ice? And why aren't you frozen?" Sokka asked him, poking him with his spear.  
"Your guess is as good as mine." The boy responded.

We heard a growl from the iceberg. The boy gasped and climbed back into the iceberg.  
"Midnight!" he exclaimed and jumped. Sokka and I circled around and our jaws dropped at what we saw. The boy was hugging a black dragon!  
"You're OK!" he exclaimed as the dragon licked his face. The dragon was about the size of a small ship, with long black wings, four legs, a long neck, and neon green eyes. **(A/N: Imagine Saphira from Eragon, but black and with green eyes.)  
** "What is that thing?" Sokka asked.  
"This is Midnight, my dragon." The boy responded.  
"Right, and this is Katara, my dragon of a sister." Sokka responded sarcastically.

Out of nowhere, the dragon sneezed, spraying mucus all over Sokka. He screamed in disgust and tried to wipe it off.  
"Don't worry, it washes out easily." The boy said as he petted the beast.  
"So, you guys live around here?" he asked casually.  
"Don't answer that, did you see that light? He was probably trying to signal the fire navy!" Sokka said, pointing his spear at the boy.  
"Oh yeah, I'm sure. You can see the evil spark in his eye." I said sarcastically.  
"The paranoid one is Sokka. You never told us your name." I said.  
"Oh! I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm…" he trailed off. He looked like he was about to sneeze, and did. But, as he sneezed, the force pushed him 50 feet in the air. He landed and sniffed.  
"My name is Hunter. Pleased to meet you." He said casually as if the sneeze never happened.

"You just sneezed and flew 10 feet in the air!" Sokka exclaimed.  
"Really? It felt higher." Hunter mused. I gasped in realisation.  
"You're airbender!" I exclaimed.  
"Uh, yeah, sure." Hunter responded.  
"Bright lights, dragons, airbenders, I think I got midnight sun madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense." Sokka said and walked off. He stopped when he reached the edge, looking into the distance.  
"Well, if you guys are stuck, Midnight and I can give you ride." Hunter offered.  
"That sounds awesome! Thanks!" I exclaimed as he helped onto the saddle that was on the dragon's back.  
"Oh no, I am not getting on that scaly snot monster!" Sokka exclaimed.  
"Alright then, see ya." Hunter said as he mounted on Midnight's neck. I giggled when Sokka sighed in defeat and climbed into the saddle.  
"Alright, first time flyers hold on tight. Midnight, to the sky!" Hunter said to his dragon.

She made a jump to fly as she extended her wings, but fell into the water.  
"Wow that was absolutely amazing." Sokka said sarcastically, earning a whip from Midnight's tail.  
"She's just tired. A little rest and she'll be soaring through the sky. You'll see." Hunter said with a smile. I nodded and was about to sit down, but I noticed he was still smiling at me.  
"Why are you smiling at me like that?" I asked, a little uncomfortable.  
"Oh I was smiling?" he asked. I nodded.  
"Well, my parents did raise me to appreciate beauty." He said. I felt my cheeks go red, and he laughed at my reaction.  
"You're cute when you're flustered Katara." He said with a grin. I blushed more and sat down, facing Sokka, who had an evil grin on his face. I glared at him.  
"Not a word." I hissed at him. He kept quiet, but didn't lose the grin.

After a few hours of sailing on dragon back, a thought occurred to me. I leaned over the front of the saddle to face Hunter.  
"Hey." I greeted when I saw him relaxing on Midnight's neck.  
"Hey. You got something on your mind?" he asked. I nodded.  
"I was just thinking, you being an airbender and all, do you know what happened to the Avatar?" I asked. He developed a forlorn expression.  
"I knew him." he responded. I beamed at him.  
"He's dead, and he's not coming back." He said. I deflated.  
"The reincarnation cycle was broken. The Avatar doesn't exist anymore." He finished. I nodded.  
"Thanks anyway." I said. He nodded.  
"Sleep tight. You can use my cloak as blanket if you're cold." He said.  
"Thanks. Sleep tight." I responded and lay down, not noticing his guilty look.

 **Hunter P.O.V.**

 _~Hunter's Dream~_

 _I was sitting on the saddle on Midnight's back, relaxing as I enjoyed the view of the blue sky while we flew. Out of nowhere, massive storm clouds appeared and it started raining harder than I had ever seen. I quickly skidded over to Midnight's neck and grabbed her horns to steer, but the wind was too strong. It blew Midnight into the water as it erratically shifted from one direction to the next. As Midnight and I were drowning, I felt a strange instinct take me over. I somehow knew that my eyes were glowing red, and that I had grown fangs. I smashed my fists together, creating a huge bubble of air around us, and then the images faded into nothing._

 _~Dream End~_

I woke up a cold sweat, shirtless, in a tent that Katara led me to last night. As I was breathing heavily, Katara entered.  
"Hunter I-" she stopped when she saw me and blushed. "Something wrong?" I asked.  
"Uh no, it's just, you're shirtless." She said, blushing a bit more. I apologised and put a shirt on. I heard her gasp, but that was probably because she saw my scars on my back. I clipped my cloak on, garbbed my naginata and she pulled me out of the tent. I was greeted by the sight of about 30 villagers, all of the adults being women, and the oldest child being about a 9 year old boy.

"Hunter, this is the entire village. Entire village, Hunter." She introduced. I bowed with my weapon in my hands. They looked a bit intimidated by me.  
"Is something wrong?" I asked. An old lady stepped forward.  
"Well, nobody has seen an airbender in 100 years, or a dragon in 20. We thought they were both extinct, until my grandchildren found you and your dark scaled friend." The lady said.  
"Extinct?" I asked in horror.  
"Hunter, this is my grandmother." "Call me Gran-Gran." The old lady deadpanned.

Sokka walked up and grabbed my naginata.  
"What kind of weapon is this? The blade is too short to deal any lethal damage, and it's too edged to stab anything with." he asked. I frowned and airbendeded it back to my hands. I whacked him over the head with the flat of the blade, making the children laugh.  
"That's because I made it to do minimal damage." I explained. Sokka glared at me and walked away.  
"Weird man smack Sokka. I like him." A girl about 2 years old said and came up to me. I smiled, passed my weapon to Katara, and picked the girl up.  
"What's your name?" I asked.  
"Kiyara." She replied with a smile.  
"A pretty name for a pretty little girl." I said, causing her to giggle. I put her down and she went to her mother.

I looked to my side, and saw Sokka headed towards a tower made of snow. I smirked and nudged Katara. She looked in the direction I was and matched my evil look of mischief. I shot a thin stream of air towards the snow tower, and it fell onto Sokka. The entire village burst out laughing.  
"My watch tower." Sokka whispered in horror when he dug himself out.  
"Great, you're an airbender, Katara's a waterbender, together you can cause trouble all day long." He said and stomped off.  
"You're a waterbender?" I asked her.  
"Well, sort of, not yet." She replied with a forlorn expression.

 **Katara P.O.V.**

I was about to ask Hunter if he would help me with my bending, but Gran-Gran cut me off.  
"That's enough playing for today. Katara, you have chores to do." She said. I nodded and walked off with her.  
"I told you he's the real thing Gran-Gran! I finally found a bender who can help me!" I said to her in excitement.  
"Katara, try not to put too much hope into this boy, something is off about him." she said.  
"What?" I asked confused.  
"He is hiding something. I don't know what, and I don't think it's bad, but there's something he's not telling us." She said with suspicion in her voice.  
"Like?" I asked.  
"I don't know, but he doesn't seem like an air nomad. They never carried weapons, and they usually wore robes, not cloaks, much less any black clothing." She said. I rolled my eyes.  
"That weapon is meant to deal minimal damage, and he just has a different fashion sense, that's all. Besides, I can sense that he has a lot of wisdom." I said, looking at Hunter, who was playing with the children.

After I got all my chores done, I tried to find Hunter, to ask him to help me with my bending. I saw Sokka, looking deflated as the children were walking away from him. Another one of his stupid warrior lessons I guess.  
"Hey Sokka, have you seen Hunter? Gran-Gran said he disappeared an hour ago." I asked. He pointed to a tent. I thanked him and entered, finding Hunter meditating, while floating a few feet in the air.  
"Hunter?" I called to him. He opened his eyes and smiled at me.  
"Need something?" he asked. I nodded and sat in front of him as he floated down to the ground.  
"I need a favour." I said.  
"Anything you need."  
"Can you help me with my bending? I'm terrible at it." I said.  
"Sure, but I'm an airbender, not a waterbender. That may present a problem. Is there not a bender in your tribe to teach you?" he asked. I shook my head.  
"No, you're looking at the only waterbender in the entire south pole." I explained.  
"That's not right. A water bender needs to master water. What of the north pole?" He asked.  
"We haven't heard from them in decades. It's not exactly 'turn right at 2nd glacier,' it's across the entire world." I explained. He nodded.  
"True, but if you want, I'll fly you on Midnight. She's fast, she'll be there in a month tops."  
"I don't know, I've never left home before." He nodded in understanding.  
"Well, while you think about it, why don't we have some fun? Penguin sledding?" he offered. I smiled and nodded.

We exited the tent, greeted by Midnight letting kids slide down their tail.  
"It's nice to see kids having fun in this time of war." I mused to Hunter.  
"There's a war?" he asked.  
"You're kidding?" I asked in surprised. We both decided to talk about it later, and headed for the penguins' territory. It wasn't long before we were sledding down an ice hill on penguins. After a long ride, we stopped in front of an old, half frozen Fire Navy ship.

"What is this?" Hunter asked in amazement.  
"A Fire Navy ship, and a bad memory for my tribe." I answered. He started walking towards the ship.  
"Hunter, stop. The ship is forbidden, it could be swarming with booby traps." I warned.  
"The first thing you learn about being a bender, is to conquer your fear." He said and continued walking. I reluctantly followed him. We eventually ended up in a room full of weapons.  
"This ship has haunted my tribe since Gran-Gran was a little girl, it was one of the Fire Nation's first attacks." I explained.  
"Back up for me here, I have friends all over the world. Firebenders, waterbenders, airbenders and earthbenders. Heck, I'm engaged to a firebender girl, I've never seen any war." He said as he picked up a sword. I don't know why, but I felt sad when I heard he was engaged.

"Hunter, do you know how long you were frozen for?" I asked with a theory forming in my head.  
"Could've been weeks, months or even years." He responded.  
"Perhaps a century?" I asked.  
"That makes zero sense, do I look 117 years old to you?" he asked with raised eyebrow.  
"Think about it, the war has been going for 100 years, the only way you couldn't know about it, is if you were frozen all that time. It's the only logical explanation." I said. His eyes widened in horror, and he fell to the ground.  
"100 years, my family, my friends, my betrothed, all dead." He whispered. I felt so sorry for him.  
"I'm sorry, maybe some good can come out of this." I comforted with a hug.  
"I got to meet an astonishingly beautiful waterbender." He said with smile. I smiled back with a small blush.  
"How would your betrothed feel if she heard you say that?" I asked as I helped him up.  
"She was never worried about me calling other girls beautiful. She saw it as a sign of my gentlemanly nature, and she knew I only had eyes for her." He said sadly as we continued exploring.

"Can we leave now? I'm getting the creeps." I said. He nodded and we turned around, but I unknowingly triggered a tripwire.  
"What did you say about booby traps?" he asked as a flare shot out of the ship. He grabbed me bridal style, and jumped out of the ship with me in his arms.  
"Let's get back to the village." He said. I nodded in agreement and we ran back to the village.

 **Zuko P.O.V.**

I was looking at an old, frozen Fire Navy ship, which had released a flare, through a telescope. I saw a figure jumping out of the ship, holding someone.  
"The Red Firebender." I muttered triumphantly.  
"He's quite agile, considering he's over a century old. And given such agility, he must favour airbending." I commented. I turned to my soldiers.  
"Wake my uncle; tell him I found the Avatar." I ordered. They nodded and obeyed. I looked again, and shifted the telescope in the direction he was running. I noticed the Southern Water Tribe.  
"As well as his hiding place." I added. My chance to finally go home had come.

 **A/N: So, what do you think? There will be an explanation to Hunter's secrets soon enough, don't worry.**


	2. The New Avatar(s)

**Hunter P.O.V.**

As Katara and I approached the village, a few of the kids ran up to greet me. I smiled and hugged them as they ran to me. After a few seconds, Sokka approached, looking angrier than my father when he found out I could airbend.  
"I knew it, you signalled the Fire Navy with that flare!" he growled.  
"You're leading them to us, aren't you?" he yelled.  
"Hunter didn't do anything, it was accident." Katara defended.  
"Yeah, we fell into a booby trap in that ship." I added.  
"Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. We could all be in danger now." Katara's grandmother scolded.  
"Don't blame Katara, I went on the ship, and she followed me out of concern for my safety. It's my fault." I said.  
"The traitor confesses. Warriors, away from the enemy, he is banished from our village." Sokka growled.  
"Sokka, stop. You're making a mistake." Katara shot at him.  
"No, I'm keeping my promise to Dad; I'm protecting you from threats like him." Sokka said, pointing at me.

"Hunter is not a threat!" Katara shot again.  
"He's brought us fun we haven't in years!"  
"You can't fight firebenders with fun!" Sokka responded.  
"You don't know the half of it." I said with a chuckle, earnong a snarl from Sokka.  
"Get out of our village, NOW!" he yelled. I nodded and whistled. A few seconds later, Midnight crawled up behind me.  
"Gran-Gran, don't let Sokka do this." Katara begged.  
"Katara, that ship was forbidden territory, yet you went anyway. Sokka is right. It may be best for the airbender to leave." She replied.  
"Fine, then I'm banished too!" she yelled, grabbing my hand and dragging me to Midnight.  
"Where are you going?" Sokka asked his sister.  
"To the north pole. Hunter is gonna help me become a waterbender." She replied angrily.  
"Uh, sure." I responded.  
"Katara, would you really chose him over your tribe? Your family?" Sokka asked her. She stopped in her tracks.  
"Katara, if you want to go, I'll take you. But, I don't want to come between you and your family." I told her. She nodded and let go of my hand. I headed over to midnight, who bowed her head so that I could get on her neck.

"So, you're leaving the South Pole?" Katara asked.  
"This is goodbye?"  
"Thanks for getting me out of the ice. And for penguin sledding." I told her with a smile.  
"Where will you go?" she asked me. I shrugged.  
"I don't know." I lied. I knew exactly where I was going.  
"Before I go, I have something for you." I told her. I jumped into the saddle on Midnight's back, and got a small chest from my satchel. I jumped down and gave it to her.  
"This chest has a few waterbending scrolls. They're not as effective as an actual teacher, and they won't get you to a master's level, but they'll help you improve." I told her. She nodded and hugged me with teary eyes. I hugged back.  
"See you soon." I said and jumped onto Midnight's neck.  
"Let's see tall dark and scaly fly now, air boy." Sokka mocked me. I glared at him and flipped him off. Kiyara started crying and ran towards Midnight and I.  
"Don't go Hunter, I'll miss you." She said with tears. I smiled sadly at her.  
"I'll miss you too." I told her as Midnight turned and walked away.  
"That's right, I thought so." Sokka said as I left.

After a few hours of walking, Midnight stopped for a rest. While she was sleeping, I was meditating. I was suddenly interrupted by Midnight's grumbling in sadness. I could tell she really liked Katara.  
"I know girl, I liked her too." I said and went back to meditating. Out of nowhere, a vision came to me. I saw a guy, about my age, with long black hair tied into a ponytail, deep yellow eyes, and a burnscar over his left eye. He was firebending at the villagers, intimidating them, but not hurting them. I snapped out of my meditation and got up.  
"Midnight, stay here." I said and ran towards the village. I may have been banished, but they needed me. And that tells me that the banishment is irrelevant for now.

I approached the village, and saw that there was indeed a Fire Navy ship docked right outside it. I peeked inside, and saw the scarred guy intimidating the villagers. I wanted to just go and help them immediately, but I was smarter than that.  
"Where is the one you're hiding?" he asked the villagers. When none of them answered, he grabbed Katara's grandmother.  
"He would be about this age, master of all elements." He explained angrily. My eyes widened in realisation.  
 _"They're looking for me."_ I thought in horror. Sokka attacked him when he let go of the old lady, but was quickly over powered. As the scarred guy was about to deliver the final blow with some fire daggers, I swooped in, sliding down the ice wall on my feet. I slid past him, and tripped him with my weapon. As I slid to a stop, some the kids where cheering for me.

"Hey Sokka. Sorry I came back after being banished." I said as I helped him up. He looked a bit guilty.  
"Hey. Don't apologise, thanks for coming back." He said. I smiled at him.  
"Let me take care of this." I told him. He nodded, and went to stand by his sister. I took a battle stance as the soldiers surrounded me. They all fired massive balls of fire at me, which I didn't expect. I acted on instinct, I dropped my weapon and did something I hoped I wouldn't have to do in front of the village; I firebended. I hit the ground with my fist, and a circular wall of crimson red fire appeared around me, dissipating the fireballs that were headed for me.

I dropped the fire, and looked right at the scarred one.  
"Looking for me?" I asked as I took a battle stance and made fire daggers of my own.  
"You're the Red Firebender? You're the first of the new line of Avatars?" he asked in shocked.  
"Hunter?" Katara asked, also in shock.  
"No way…" Sokka muttered, just as shocked.  
"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating, and you're hardly older than I am." He said as we circled each other.  
"I'm a lot older than I look, Mr…?" I trailed off, not knowing his name.  
"Zuko, son of Ersa and Firelord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation." He said.  
"Hunter, Prince of the Fire Nation." I responded with a smirk.  
"Don't mock me!" he yelled and shot fire at me.  
"I'm not mocking you, can't you see the family resemblance?" I asked as I destroyed his fireball.  
"My name is Hunter, son of Sierra, and Firelord Sozen. Prince of the Fire Nation." I told him. His eyes widened, as did all the villagers.  
"You're a traitor to your family." He growled and attacked. I blocked, but some of the fire he shot almost hit the villagers.

I stopped him from attacking again and spoke.  
"If I surrender myself, will you swear to leave this village?" I asked him. He dropped his stance and nodded.  
"I give you my word as a Prince." He said. I nodded and held my hands up.  
"Hunter, no!" Katara called.  
"It'll be OK." I told her as 2 of the soldiers tied my hands behind my back.  
"Look after Midnight while I'm gone will you?" I asked. She nodded in tears. I looked at her as the ramp that led into the ship closed.

As Zuko led me to the brig, he stopped in front of a room. He opened it and pushed me in. It was a room that looked like a prince's. His room I guessed. There was an old man in the room with Zuko and I. He was a bit short, and rather large, but he didn't seem dangerous.  
"Uncle Iroh, meet Hunter, the first of the new Avatar line." He introduced me.  
"Iroh? Son of Azulan perhaps?" I asked. They both nodded. I smirked.  
"Big brother did always say he wanted a son named Iroh." I said.  
"I guess you're my nephew then." I chuckled at the thought of having a nephew who looks to be in about his late 60's. His eyes widened.  
"Uncle, he is the son of Sozen and Sierra who disappeared." Zuko explained. Iroh passed out at that.  
"Not what I imagined Azu's son to be like." I mused out loud.

I could tell Zuko wanted to laugh, but he had an image to keep up, so he controlled himself. He took my weapon from one of his soldiers.  
"A fine blade." He commented.  
"Thanks. Made it myself." I responded.  
"It will make an excellent gift for my father." He said as he put it down. He instructed his soldiers to take me to the brig. I followed willingly, but as we neared the brig, I blew a massive gust of air at the guard in front of me, and used my firebending to burn the ropes off. I ran back to Zuko's room to get my weapon. It was still where he left it. I smirked and went to grab it, but I heard the slam shut. I turned around to see Zuko.  
"I underestimated you." He said simply and ignited his flaming daggers. I did the same.

 **Katara P.O.V.**

I was standing on the edge of the ice, looking into the distance in the direction the ship that took Hunter was headed. I couldn't believe it. Not only was Hunter the Avatar, but he was the prince of the Fire Nation! A firebender! He must have already mastered air when he was frozen. Though I have no idea why his fire was red, it looked so strange. As I was caught up in my musings, I could hear Sokka approaching me.

"We have to go after that ship Sokka. Hunter saved our tribe now we have to save him." I said.  
"Katara, I-" I thought he was going to protest, so I cut him off.  
"Why can't you realise that he's on our side? If we don't save him no one will!" I yelled.  
"I know you don't like Hunter, but we owe him and-"  
"Katara!" he cut me off this time.  
"Are you gonna talk, or are you coming with me?" he asked as I turned around. I saw him pointing to a canoe. I smiled brightly at him and hugged him.  
"Get in, we're going to save your boyfriend." I glared at him, but said nothing.

"What do you 2 think you're doing?" the voice of my grandmother asked. We turned and faced her, smiling innocently. Her hard expression softened into a kind smile.  
"You'll need these. The journey ahead is long." She said, handing us a few sleeping bags.  
"It has been so long since I've had this much hope. But you brought it back to life, my little waterbender." She said hugging me.  
"And you my brave warrior, be nice to your sister." She said as she hugged Sokka.  
"Yeah, Ok Gran." He sighed.  
"Hunter is the Avatar, the world's only hope. You 2 found him for a reason, and now your destinies are intertwined with his." She said. We both nodded.

At that point, Midnight crawled over to us. I looked at Sokka with a smirk.  
"Even if she doesn't fly, she's faster than a canoe." I said.  
"You just love taking me out of my comfort zone, don't you?" he asked sarcastically. We put all of our supplies in the saddle and went on our way. An hour after we left, Sokka was mumbling flying phrases.  
"Go, soar, fly, up, ascend." He mumbled word after word, but they had no affect on the dragon.  
"Sokka thinks you're afraid to fly, but I think otherwise. Don't you wanna save Hunter?" I asked Midnight .  
"What was it the guy said? Up we go? Up, up and away? Let's head out? Uuuh, to the sky?" he asked. Midnight started moving a little faster. Out of nowhere, she spread her enormous wings and jumped out of the water. She was flying!  
"Katara she's flying!" Sokka exclaimed. I grinned at his reaction.  
"I mean, big deal, she's flying." He said in a nonchalant tone, but still had an excited look on his face.

After half an hour, we caught up to the ship. On the deck, I could see 2 figures, fighting it out in a fire duel. One was shooting regular orange fire and the other was shooting crimson red fire.  
"It's Hunter, he must be trying to escape." Sokka said. I nodded and gestured to Midnight for her to go faster, but we got there too late. Zuko had pushed Hunter into the water, passed out.  
"Hunter No! Hunter! Hunter! HUNTER!" I yelled.

All of a sudden, a bright red glow showed underneath the water. My eyes widened in recognition. The same light that emerged from the iceberg he was trapped in. Out of nowhere, Hunter emerged from the water, eyes glowing crimson red, sharp fangs showing, and a water tornado surrounding his legs. He was water bending! He bended the cyclone to place him on the ship, then he spun the water around himself, and pushed it outward in all directions, pushing all of the crewman off the ship. He looked down at his weapon, airbended it into his hands, and tapped the bottom of it on the ground. 2 large, red, bat-like wings emerged, as well as 2 smaller ones. He mounted his weapon like a glider, and jumped towards us. Using the glider, he flew up to us, landed in the saddle, and looked at me. The dark red glow lingered for a few seconds, but then faded, and he passed out.  
"Did you see what he just did?" I asked Sokka in shock.  
"Now that, was some waterbending." He replied.

Midnight suddenly roared, and shot a ball of blue fire at a glacier, covering the ship with snow, and then she flew off with all 3 of us on her back. A few hours later, Hunter woke up. He had a bit of a headache, but he was OK.  
"How did you do that with the water?" I asked him.  
"I don't know, I just did it." he answered quietly.  
"Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?" I asked him, a little hurt that he lied to me.  
"Because I didn't want to be the Avatar." He answered forlornly.  
"But Hunter," I started, but he cut me off.  
"But nothing Katara. I'm living peacefully in the Fire Palace one day, and then I discover I can airbend. My father looked like he wanted to kill me and then The Fire Sages sneak me out of the palace, and send me to the Southern Air Temple to train my airbending. I had to leave everyone! My mother, my siblings, my betrothed, my friends, EVERYONE! And now they're all dead!" he yelled angrily.  
"I understand Hunter. But the world needs you. They need you to end the war." I responded. He took a deep breath.  
"How do you suggest I do that?" he asked. "Well, legend says you must first master air, then water, then earth, right?" I asked. He nodded.  
"Well, you've already mastered air, and if we go to the North Pole, we can find you a teacher." I explained. He smiled brightly.  
"We can learn together." He said. I nodded.  
"And Sokka, I'm sure you can knock a few firebender heads on the way." I said. He smiled.  
"I'd like that very much." He said.  
"Hey! Don't forget, I'm originally a firebender." Hunter said with an annoyed look. We all laughed. This is going to be a very interesting journey.

 **A/N: So, Hunter is a prince! Anybody see that coming?**


	3. The Warriors of Kyoshi

**Zuko P.O.V.**

I was meditating in my quarters, trying not to think about how my great uncle escaped me so easily. I should have expected it though, he was a Prince after all, like me. As I inhaled, the flames on the candles in front of me grew, and they shrunk as I exhaled. As I was meditating, I heard my door open.  
"The only reason you be interrupting me, is if you have news about the Avatar." I said to the visitor.  
"There is news Prince Zuko, but you might not like it. Don't get too upset." My uncle's voice responded.  
"Uncle, you taught me that a level head is a sign of a great leader. I'm sure I can handle whatever you have to say." I assured him.  
"OK then, we have no idea where he is." My uncle deadpanned.  
"WHAT?!" I yelled, making the candle flames grow to the size of a wolf-bat.  
"You really should open a window in here." He commented.  
"Give me the map." I ordered, grabbing the map from his hands.  
"There have been sightings of my uncle, but he is impossible to track down." He said.  
"How am I supposed to find him?" I asked.  
"He is clearly a master of evasive manoeuvring." I added, seeing the erratic flight pattern the Avatar took.

 **Hunter P.O.V.**

"You have no idea where Midnight is going, do you?" Sokka asked, sitting next to me in the saddle while Katara was fixing his pants.  
"Midnight will go in a straight line until I tell her to turn." I explained. I looked over at Katara, who looked a bit frustrated.  
"Something wrong Katara?" I asked.  
"Nothing at all." She responded.  
"Hunter, leave her alone, girls need to concentrate when they sew." Sokka said, earning a look from both Katara and I.  
"What does me/her being a girl have to do with sewing?" Katara and I asked in unison.  
"Simple. Girls are better at sewing than men, and men are better at hunting and the like. It's just the natural order of things." Sokka said in a tone that suggests he doesn't see what is wrong with that logic.  
"All done, look what a great job I did." Katara remarked and threw the unfinished pants at Sokka, earning a laugh from me.  
"Katara, I was just kidding, please!" Sokka begged.

Out of nowhere, Midnight sifted course, and landed on an island with a large cove.  
"Didn't you say she won't change course unless you told her to?" Sokka asked as we got off of Midnight.  
"She's probably tired or hungry." I answered.  
"We don't have time to make another pit stop." Sokka said.  
"Sokka's right, at this rate, we'll only arrive at the north pole in spring." Katara added.  
"Nothing I can do about it. Let's just let her rest and hunt for her food." I responded. Sokka and Katara nodded, and we sat under a tree while Midnight snapped at an elephant koi that was swimming.

She finally caught an adolescent one, and brought it to the beach. She ate it rather quickly.  
"Well, Midnight is finished eating, time to hit the road." Sokka said as we all got up. While I was clasping my cloak, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, and then another pulled my hood down, and put blindfold on me while the other bound my hands and legs.  
"Or we could stay a while." Sokka said as we were all pushed to the ground.

We were dragged for a little while, and then tied to a thick wooden pole.  
"You 3 have some explaining to do." An old man's voice said.  
"If you don't answer our questions, we'll throw you to the Unagi." A woman's voice said.  
"Show yourselves cowards." Sokka growled and our blindfolds were removed. There were several girls, about my age (17) and older, wearing what looked like female battle armour.  
"Who are you? Where the men who ambushed us?" Sokka demanded.  
"Something tells me there weren't any men Sokka." I commented.  
"We ambushed you." The apparant leader of the female warriors said, making Sokka snort.  
"There's no way a bunch of girls took us down." He commented arrogantly.  
"A bunch of girls huh?" the leader asked pulling Sokka close to her face.  
"The Unagi is going to eat well tonight." She said angrily.  
"Wait, he didn't mean it. My brother's just an idiot sometimes." Katara said. The leader huffed and released him.  
"How do expect to get a girlfriend when you don't know how to treat and respect a lady?" I asked Sokka, making him fluster in anger.

"I apologise for trespassing. My dragon was hungry, so she landed here to catch an elephant koi." I explained.  
"How do we know you're not Fire Navy spies? The Fire Nation has been known to rid dragons." the old man, whom I would guess is the village's chief, asked suspiciously.  
"Kyoshi island has stayed out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way." He said.  
"This island is named for Kyoshi? I know her!" I said. The chief laughed.  
"How could you when Avatar Kyoshi was born over 400 years ago?" He asked mockingly.  
"I know her because I'm the first of new line of Avatars." I said with a smirk.  
"That's impossible; the first of the new Avatar line was The Red Firebender who disappeared 100 years ago." The leader of the warriors shot back. I held my hand up and burned the ropes off of me with my red fire.  
"You were saying?" I asked sarcastically as they all looked at us with wide eyes.

"It's true, you are the Avatar." The chief said with wide eyes. I bowed to them.  
"Avatar Hunter, at your service." I introduced myself. The entire town cheered for me, and one guy even passed out with foam coming out of his mouth. After shaking a few hands, I found myself in the suite room of the inn, with a large table full of food. The next morning, the table was covered with plates of deserts.  
"Wow, desert for breakfast." I mused as I ate. I took one of the sweet rolls, and it was actually very good.  
"Katara, try this." I said, handing her one. She took it with a smile and ate.

"Sokka, come try some of this." I said to him. He just frowned and sat in the corner.  
"Not hungry." He growled out.  
"You're always hungry." I deadpanned.  
"Are you upset that 'a bunch of girls' kicked your butt yesterday?" I asked with a sly grin.  
"They snuck up on me!" he protested loudly.  
"And then they kicked your butt." Katara added with a smirk.  
"Sneak attacks don't count!" he shot back and grabbed a lot of the food.  
"Tie me up with ropes… I'll show them… I'm not scared of any girls… Hmm, this is tasty…" he mumbled as he walked off.  
"He's probably going to go look down on those warrior girls." Katara sighed.  
"I've got to see this." I said as I got up and grinned. I looked out the window.  
"It's nice that they're fixing that statue." I said to Katara, who nodded in agreement.

I followed Sokka to the Kyoshi Warriors' training Dojo.  
"Watcha doin?" I asked him.  
"I'm gonna show those girls a real warrior." He growled back as we entered.  
"Sorry ladies, I didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson; I was just looking for a place to get a little work out." He said with arrogance while he did some stretches.  
"Well, you're in the right place." The leader, Suki, said and turned to face me.  
"Sorry about yesterday, I didn't know you were the Avatar." She said with a slight bow. I waved my hand casually.  
"Forgiven and forgotten." I said with a smile, which she returned.  
"I would hold a grudge, but I'm not the Avatar, and I'll make an exception since you're a bunch of girls." Sokka said, still arrogant.  
"I should hope so, a big strong man like you, we wouldn't stand a chance." Suki replied. I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic, or flirting.  
"True, but don't feel bad, I'm the best warrior in my village." Sokka said with an arrogant smirk.  
"You're the only warrior in your village." I deadpanned, causing Sokka to glare at me and the Kyoshi Warriors to giggle a little.  
"Maybe you could give us a demonstration?" Suki asked Sokka, ignoring what I said. I didn't mind though, I knew what she was thinking.  
"Oh well, I don't know, maybe-"  
"Come on girls, don't you want him to show you some moves?" I asked the warriors, making them all laugh and nod.

"Well, OK then." Sokka said, unsure about what to do next.  
"You stay there, and try to dodge my blow." He said and took a fighting stance. He threw a sloppy punch, and Suki hit him in the shoulder with her fan.  
"Nicely done, but I was going easy on you." Sokka said, trying to look like the big man.  
"Let's see if you can handle this!" he exclaimed and tried to throw a kick, only to be stopped by Suki, and pushed back. Suki undid her fan, and waved it to her face, looking like a lady to piss Sokka off. It worked.  
"That does it!" he yelled and lunged at her. She easily caught the fist, swung him around a bit, and then grabbed his belt, using it to tie his left hand to his right foot. He fell over onto his face, red with embarrassment. All the girls and I were laughing.  
"Anything else you wanna teach us?" Suki asked with a smirk.  
"You sure have a way with the ladies Sokka." I joked as I untied him. He looked at me angrily and stormed out.  
"Suki, would you care to spar with an opponent who will respect you and take you seriously?" I asked her with a gentlemanly bow. She smiled and accepted. We each unsheathed our weapons, and fought. We did rather well, but after about 15 minutes, neither of us had won, and agreed to call it a draw.

After a few hours of them showing me their fighting techniques we started going through some simple stances. Suki would take a stance, and the rest of us would follow as she changed stances. Sokka came back after another hour or so, looking guilty.  
"Hey Suki." He greeted.  
"Hoping for another dance lesson?" she asked with crossed arms.  
"No, I,"  
"Spit it out, what do you want?" she asked. Sokka sighed and got on his knees.  
"I would be honoured if you would teach me." He said forlornly.  
"We don't usually teach outsiders, much less boys. We taught Hunter because he is the reincarnation of our founder." Suki said.  
"I understand, please make an exception." Sokka pleaded.  
"Ok, but you'll have to follow all of our customs." Suki said.  
"I understand." Sokka replied.  
"And I mean all of them." Suki said, with an evil grin. 10 minutes later, I was on the floor laughing, looking at Sokka in the Kyoshi Warrior's uniform.

"Do I have to wear this?" he asked in an unamused tone.  
"You should feel proud, it's a warrior's uniform. The silk thread symbolises the brave blood that flows through our veins, the gold insignia represents the warrior's honourable heart." Suki explained, trying not to laugh.  
"Bravery and honour." Sokka said proudly.  
"And it's a dress." I added, earning a glare from Sokka.  
"I'm gonna go say hi to Katara. It was nice training with you Suki." I said with a bow and left.

I arrived at the inn and found Katara practising her waterbending on a bowl of water.  
"Hey Katara." I greeted.  
"Hey Hunter." She responded.  
"I'm gonna take a walk at the river, care to join me?" I offered. She smiled and nodded. She put her coat on while I grabbed my cloak. We walked for about half an hour before seeing a massive fin emerging from the river.  
"That must be the Unagi Suki was talking about earlier." I commented. Katara agreed. After another 15 minutes of walking and chatting, Katara gasped.  
"Zuko!" she exclaimed as we hid.  
"We've got to warn the villagers." I said when Zuko passed us on his rhino. Katara nodded in agreement and we ran back to the village.

We arrived at the village, finding most of the Kyoshi Warriors and firbenders incapacitated. Zuko was standing in the centre.  
"Nice try Avatar, but these little girls can't save you." He called out.  
"Hey! Over here!" I called to him. He turned to me and then shot 2 massive balls of fire at me, which I easily deflected with my weapon. I ran up to him, and slashed my weapon at him, but he dodged my blows and kicked my weapon from my hands. I jumped over him and landed by a pair of fans that a Kyoshi warrior had dropped. I grabbed them, and used them to create a strong wave of air at Zuko, who got blown into a building. I grabbed my weapon and ran to where Katara was.

"Look what I did." I said to her in a grief stricken tone.  
"Hunter, this isn't your fault." She said, trying to comfort me.  
"Yes it is. These people got their village burnt down because I'm here." I responded.  
"Then let's leave, Zuko will follow us." Katara proposed. I nodded in agreement. I went to get Midnight, while Katara went to get Sokka. Minutes later, I was on Midnight, and Katara came running to us, Sokka by her side.  
"Midnight, to the sky!" I exclaimed and Midnight took off. Once we were small distance from the island, Zuko started following us.

"I know its hard Hunter, but they'll be OK. If we stayed, Zuko would have destroyed the whole thing." Katara said with a small smile. I nodded and looked back at the village. I stood up, with a look of determination on my face.  
"What are you doing?" Katara asked me in a worried tone.  
"Something incredibly stupid and reckless." I responded and jumped. As I was falling, I called out to the spirits, hoping that the strange instinct I felt before would appear, and it did.  
"Please help me spirits." I whispered. I opened my eyes, knowing that they were glowing red, and felt fangs in my mouth. I hit the water in a matter of seconds, and landed straight on the Unagi's head. I grabbed its whiskers, and pulled. It shot its head out of the water, and tried to shake me off, but I held on and pulled again. The Unagi opened its mouth and a large blast of water sprayed all over the village, putting out the fire, and soaking everybody. I jumped off and landed on Midnight's tail. The glow in my eyes died down, and I looked at where Zuko was standing. He looked very pissed off. I smirked at him and saluted with a wink as I climbed back into the saddle.

"You were right, that was stupid and reckless." Katara said with a smirk.  
"And heroic." She added as she hugged me. I widened my eyes in surprise, and felt my face go red and my heart speed up. Sokka noticed this and grinned evilly. I glared at him, and he dropped the grin looking terrified. I smirked at his reaction.


End file.
